At the One Championship event on May 20, two of the most exciting BJJ prospects, Kade and Tye Ruotolo will take on Shinya Aoki and Garry Tonon respectively.
Ruotolo Brothers to Debut in ONE in Grappling Matches on May 20th
Two talented teens signed the deals with ONE Championship back in March. Their ambition is to compete in both grappling and MMA bouts, which can be easily contributed to the promotion’s policy of hosting fights under various rulesets – MMA, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, and Grappling. However, both brothers will make their promotional debuts in grappling bouts.
New Submission Grappling Ruleset
ONE Championship held a few submission grappling events already. If a fight runs the distance, it ended in a time limit draw. This will no longer be a case starting May 20. If time runs out, the winner will be declared based on the number of ‘real’ submission attempts.
Each bout will have 12 minutes time limit with submission being the only way to win it.
Ruotolo Brothers’ Grappling Achievements
Both Kade and Tye have been competing since they were kids. In 2019, a then 16-years-old Tye took part in the 66 kg division competition at the ADCC World Championships. He would end at the 4th place.
In 2021, Kade and Tye both grabbed the championship gold in Who’s Number One. In December of that year, the Ruotolo brothers entered the IBJJF World Championships in the brown belt lightweight division. They met in the finals with Tye winning the whole competition via armbar.
Their Respective Opponents
Kade will take on Japanese grappling legend, Shinya Aoki. Aoki is judo and BJJ black belt and also has a 47 – 10 professional MMA record. He also competed in various submission grappling events such as Metamoris, ADCC World Championships, and Budo challenge. His submission grappling record is
12 – 5 – 1.
Tye will test himself against Garry Tonon, who is considered to be one of the world’s best grapplers at 77 kg. He won EBI and IBJJF Pan No-Gi titles. He also took third place at the 2019 ADCC World Championships. Tonon also competes in MMA and is a top contender in the ONE Championship featherweight division. He sports a 6 – 1 MMA record with his sole loss coming against Thanh Le at ONE Championship: Lights Out, where he was knocked out in the very first round. His submission grappling record stands 71 wins, 22 losses and 2 draws.
Main Image via One Championship.